Korean Job Discussion Forums

potblackettle · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

So I use KEB bank... and for the most part I've had no problems with them. They're polite and between my Korean and their English we manage to get business done.

My problem is, they are charging me $31 to wire money to the US!!!!

$31 f**king dollars!!!

They charge me the $13 fee, which I pay, in cash at the bank.

And then they remove (without ever telling me) $18 from the amount wired. I only recently noticed this (I had a rough pregnancy and this was sort of the last thing on my mind) when I found discrepancies between the amount reaching my account and the amount wired. It's not an exchange issue, it's a fee of some sort.

Does anyone know what this fee is? And if there's anything I can do about it? And if not can you recommend another bank that has lower fees?

By the time I pay their fees and the $10 fee my bank takes out I'm losing $41 dollars every time I wire.

ED209 · Joined: 17 Oct 2006

Sounds like instead of a direct transfer they transferred your money to an intermediary bank. A kind of middle man bank in the US then they sent it on to your actual US account. They should have informed you of this but they never do. Go in complain close your account go some place else.

potblackettle · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

Thanks.

That was kind of my plan. My boss is going in with me to do her patented "Why are you screwing with my foreigner" freak out.

sojourner1 · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 5:09 pm Post subject:

Yes, it was about a $30 fee to wire money to my home account from my KEB account last year. Nothing you can do about it as you have to pay for this financial service. It's nothing if you're dealing with thousands of dollars, but you lose if doing anything less than $1000.

regicide · Joined: 01 Sep 2006 Location: United States

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

I also use KEB and transfer money home once a month for the past nine months. I did it yesterday. Everytime its 18000 Won and no more. Why do you take cash there? Just do a remittance from your account, this saves you time and money because the exchange rate is better than the cash rate.

potblackettle · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

There's got to be a cheaper way to do this... because $41 for them to flip a couple of numbers if exorbitant and predatory.

My bank in the U.S. said that the money was coming from JP Morgan who had been told to remove the $18 fee by KEB.

I might could have handled the fee, but it really pisses me off that they didn't even mention this to me.

Dealing with banks always makes me feel so Fight Club. It's like an entire industry built on a** raping the general public.

potblackettle · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

I do it in cash because everytime I've tried to have it removed directly from the account they get all confused and it ends up being a 40 minute ordeal. Here in tiny little Mokpo the tellers don't have as much experience with foreigners and wiring money as they would in a bigger city. I didn't know it was cheaper/better to do it straight from the account. I'll see if my boss can help me set it up.

I'm terrible with money/banks. It's just not something I understand or do well. Thanks for the advice.

$18 is still absurd, but its better than $31.

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

I agree, and your bank in the US will probably give you a recieving fee like mine does. I use wellsfargo. Anyways, if it helps i can explain it to you.

1. Take your bank book, passport, and bank info to the teller.
2. Request a transfer from your account.
3. She should hand you a piece of paper asking how much WON you want to send, write the amount.
4. She will take your bank book, put it in the machine and display all of your account activity.
5. She will ask you to put in your PIN number to transfer the funds.
6. Sign the paper and leave!

The first time I did it, it took 30 minutes, but now its all but 5. Just have patience and bear with them. For the rates at keb, go here www.keb.co.kr/main/en

click on Foreign Exchange rate and it should tell you how much you get per dollar when tranfering and vis versa. look under Remittance, this is the rate you will get.

Hope this helps.

potblackettle · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

Awesome. Thanks so much afs. I'll try it today. Maybe it'll keep me from going homicidal on some tiny cute little bank teller.

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

Anything to save a life Cool

potblackettle · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

You're a true waygook hero. Smile

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

My hagwon doesnt think so Twisted Evil

orosee · Joined: 07 Mar 2008 Location: Hannam-dong, Seoul

potblackettle · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

I was just talking to my husband about this and we were saying the same thing. Rather than send a couple thou home at a time we're just going to send a couple of huge transfers. There's enough in the account back home to pay our student loans for over a year, so we'll just wait until halfway through my new contract and send money.

Of course I also had a huge problem with the amounts I was sending home. I set it up so that I could send over 10,000 usd home, but I still got crap about it. They want to know how I have so much to send home. Hello? Isn't that a government thing? Should the bank be asking about this? I told the teller that we have an infant son and are incredibly boring people who don't drink/smoke or spend money frivolously so we have plenty to save.